17 Nov 2015

'a due', Davide Bertocchi and Joris Van de Moortel at the Italian Cultural Institute, Brussels

'a due'. Arte Contemporanea in Italia e Belgio. 1990-2015 ('in twos'. Contemporary Art in Italy and Belgium. 1990-2015), conceived and curated by Laura Viale and Maria Elena Minuto for the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels, is a project that originated from the idea of creating a dialogue between a series of Italian and Belgian artists who have emerged since the 1990s up to the latest generations.

With a cycle of four appointments between November 2015 and June 2016, 'a due' will host exhibitions, encounters linked to contemporary art and a series of performances, concentrating on the expressive and content-related possibilities offered by a 'dialogical dimension' and different languages between artists coming from different cultures, experiences and generations. Each Italian will invite a Belgian to exhibit and will create a relationship of affinity or contrast between artists.

During this first year of the project the artworks of the following pairs of artists will be exhibited: Davide Bertocchi (Modena, 1969) and Joris Van de Moortel (Ghent, 1983), Enrico Gaido (Turin, 1971) and Freek Wambacq (Brussels, 1978), Margherita Moscardini (Donoratico, 1981) and Futurefarmers (Belgium-USA, collective founded in 1994), and Laura Viale (Turin, 1967) and Stijn Cole (Ghent, 1978).


The first exhibition 'The Satisfaction of a Resonant Body or the Anthology of Non-homogeneous (Bolognese sauce...)' will open on 19 November with a sound performance by Davide Bertocchi and Joris Van de Moortel, in which the improvised sounds of an electric guitar will alternate through diffraction with those produced by a kind of 'human organ' (the 'Resonant Body') an invented instrument made up of organ pipes and a metallic structure, that will be animated by the blowing of four performers.
Sculptures and installations of neon, metal grates, plexiglass, microphones, computer screens, bits of guitars, batteries and speakers, 'sound objects' created using vinyl, carved wood and playing cards and performances comprising 'cutting' and 'disordered' sounds produced by electric guitars and basses, voice and synthesizers. The search of these two eclectic artists invited to inaugurate the 'a due' project for the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels is characterized by all these elements which, interpreted on every occasion in a different way, give rise to new configurations, intentions and passions. Influenced by noise, hardcore and punk rock and by their 'iconographies', and constantly engaged in a complex experimentation with sound in its broadest sense and most 'extreme' variations, both artists in this exhibition will reflect upon the concept of 'non-homogeneity', like the 'dissonance' that is sometimes produced between intention, expression and signification in the artistic process and, for that matter, simply like the work and experiences of two artists who come from different countries, cultures and generations. The two artists will question, through sound, sculpture and performance, each with his own sensitivity and specific language, the 'impure' possibilities that arise from a relationship of dyscrasia and 'imbalance' between different elements and intentions, as is ironically and 'in brackets' suggested in the final part of the title of the exhibition, spaghetti and its separate sauce, a classic of the 'Bolognese' abroad…



Davide Bertocchi (Modena, 1969) lives and works in Paris. His work includes videos, sculptures and installations and has been exhibited in numerous museums, fgalleries and international institutions, including La Maison Rouge, Paris; Bozar, Brussels; De Appel, Amsterdam; the Lyon Biennale; Palazzo Esposizioni, Rome; Espace Louis Vuitton, Paris; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; the Prague Biennale; La Monnaie de Paris; the Bronx Museum; and MoCA Shanghai. Davide Bertocchi's artistic research starts with the relationship between science and music, which the artist intentionally manipulates, creating new approaches and unusual configurations.

Joris Van de Moortel (Ghent, 1983), lives and works in Antwerp. Having graduated from the HISK (Ghent) in 2009, and resided at the Künstelerhaus Bethanien (Berlin) in 2012 and 2013, he is at once a visual artist, performer and musician. He develops his production around the relics of his performances and elements that populate his daily existence. His works have been exhibited in various international institutions, among which Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Central Museum, Utrecht; Museum Cultuur Strombeek, Grimbergen; Künsterlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin; Fondation Boghossian - Villa Empain, Brussels. In November 2015 the BE-PART contemporary art centre in Waregem will present the first monographic exhibition in Belgium dedicated to Joris Van de Moortel.

'a due'. Arte Contemporanea in Italia e Belgio. 1990-2015 is conceived and curated by Laura Viale (Turin, 1967), artist, and Maria Elena Minuto (Rome, 1981), research fellow at the University of Bergamo, art historian and independent scholar. Both currently live in Brussels.

With the kind support of Hopstreet Gallery, Brussels, and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris /Brussels.